(no subject)

I just had the weirdest experience with Time Warner cable.

I call to pay my bill. As the woman is taking my phone number she starts laughing uproariously, apparently at some joke in the office, and in the process, gets my phone number wrong. We get that sorted out, and she explains my payment options. I tell her which I wold like to do, but note that I am not sure that I can do that because I don't have my account number with me. she says that she can't understand what I'm saying conceptually and starts speaking to me like a toddler. I repeat, she gets it, and then goes on, agrssively and defensively to explain what I had done wrong in communicating that made it impossible for her to understand what I had wanted. I then state that all of this is clearly too complicated because she and I (I included myself in the problem!) weren't communicating well, so I'd be happier to just do the easier option.

Then the woman starts yelling at me, screaming that I don't need to raise my voice, and then transfers me to someone else, putting me, again, all the way at the back of the queue.

It was really horrifying and upsetting, because I was very polite and have NO IDEA what happened.

sundries

Over in themollyhouse I just wrote this long thing about penetration as metaphor in Swordspoint, that was such academic wankery it borders on the hillarious. The thing is, I think I'm right and it's pretty interesting and complex and fairly odd. Among other things, my argument was that it's a weirdly feminist book for something that's almost entirely about men.

Meanwhile, tonight I have to write lots of AC crap to make fencing and tattoo money.

Last night, I was at work until an ungodly hour (3am?) and felt unbelieveably ill besides. Somehow, I seem pretty nearly fine today.

Will practice fencing positions when I get home. And hem all the crap I keep saying I have to hem.

Meanwhile, am really over the new LJ phenom of people using bots to friend people and then unfriend them if they don't friend back in an hour. Once or twice was clever, but people who friend and unfriend me several times a day when I'm not even at a computer and have to wade through the notification messages later -- irksome!

(no subject)

Sex ratios and hunting for men in Lebannon:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/02/world/middleeast/02beirut.html

For a few weeks twice a year, after Ramadan and before Christmas, thousands of Lebanon’s young men return from jobs abroad — and run smack into one of the world’s most aggressive cultures of female display. Young women of means have spent weeks primping and planning how to sift through as many men as possible in the short time available.